1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions and methods useful for healing of wounds and the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is continuing medical interest in materials and methods which promote and accelerate the healing of wounds.
Wound-healing strength can be measured in newtons (N) or expressed in g/mm.sup.2 (.times.1000/9.8) (Tensometer 10, Monsanto Co., St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A.) utilizing a linear skin incision model in rats, as is well documented (Ross, "The Fibroblast and wound repair," Biological Review 43: 51-96 (1968); Peacock Jr., "Wound Repair," ed. 3. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia (1984); Mustoe et al., "Accelerated healing of incisional wounds in rats induced by transforming growth factor-B," Science 237: 1333-1335 (1987). This technique is a recognized model in assessing the generation of wound strength, the most important aspect of wound-healing (Mustoe et al., supra).
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,847 issued Oct. 20, 1992 to Lewis et al. and in Porras-Reyes et al., Proc. Soc. Exp. Bio. Med. 203: 18-25 (1993), a wound-healing composition of the aporphine-derived alkaloid taspine, dissolved in non-aqueous solvent, such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), was shown to promote wound healing. However, taspine is practically insoluble in most conventional vehicles, including water, alcohol, saline solutions, and the like.
There remains a need in the art for new compositions and methods which can be effectively, safely, and economically administered and utilized to accelerate the healing rate of wounds, and which preferably are soluble in aqueous media.